Kalaya Steede

It's almost Winter Solstice and I haven't done much.  But I tell you what...I'm having a blast at doing it!  Eeeee!!!  I'm so excited around the holidays. So here's what I've done. Made bracelets... Made this one for my guy cousin. Taught a class... Nice color combination! AND made some earrings... I'm really diggin' the rivets. The stone has to be changed in the last picture.  I'm not feeling it so out it goes!  There is no pop action going on.  So...I'm going to use a white pearl instead.   It's warm, muggy and rainy here in NOLA right now.  It's one of those days where you first wear short sleeves, then use an umbrella, and then wear a sweater because after that front moves through it's going to be chilly darlin'.   Stay safe and have a great weekend. Namaste Kalaya

You better wear green today or you're going to get pinched! Especially if I see you.   I haven't been able to work at the bench since last weekend but there are all sorts of ideas in my head.  But sometimes they just aren't able to make there way out and it's so frustrating.  Argh!  Thank goodness for other people's blogs.  What would I do with out them?   Here's something green for you...   I made this baby last semester.  I sawed the top layer and then enameled with a beautiful green.  This was riveted to a textured piece of copper underneath which was patinated to bring out the wee little fleur de lis.  The solid brass escutcheon pins were difficult to rivet until I decided to anneal them.  Who would of thought?  You can see more pictures on my ETSY shoppe . Don't forget to wear green.   and Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day, ♥ Kalaya

You know how sometimes one has unfinished pieces hanging around?  Well, I have a bunch.  This particular piece has been waiting for me to try a new technique.  Pictured below is the front.  I wanted to make the backside matte. When I enamel I usually like the glossy look but I wanted to try a matte finish.  I tried to use wet sandpaper 600 grit to get the matte finish but this is how it turned out. It was very uneven.  I decided to give etching cream a try and this is how it turned out. Oh well!  At least it's the backside.  I was going to put it back in the kiln to fix it but sometimes you just have to stop messing with it before it's too late.  I'm going to have to do more experiments to try and achieve that matte finish.  Here is the final piece on a cable chain.   Live and learn.  Have a great Sunday!   Kalaya